This invention relates to a checkout apparatus for use in supermarkets or other retail establishments, such apparatus serving to process items selected by a customer for purchase and enabling the customer to check out and pay for such items.
In the supermarket industry, after the cost of the goods sold, labor is the fastest growing major expense. Reducing or eliminating the amount of time taken for a cashier to handle and scan the goods purchased by a customer can substantially reduce the labor required in a retail establishment and thereby alleviate a currently growing problem. Another problem experienced by supermarket management is the risk of repetitive motion disorders or injuries to cashiers brought about by the lifting and moving of hundreds of kilograms of goods every day. Thus, there are clearly potential advantages to be gained by using self-service procedures in the checking out process in retail establishments, particularly supermarkets.
From U.S. Pat. No. 4,676,343, there is known a self-service checkout system in which checkout counters are arranged in groups of two or more, with a single cashier station being provided for each group. Each counter is provided with a customer-operated laser scanner for enabling a customer to scan universal product code (UPC) labels carried by items selected by the customer for purchase. After scanning, the items are carried by a conveyor to a bagging area. When scanning is completed, a receipt unit at the counter delivers to the customer a printed recall number which is taken together with the subsequently bagged items to the cashier for payment and issuance of a final receipt. Although this system reduces labor costs to a significant extent, it is still necessary to provide a cashier for each group of typically five or six checkout counters. Also, the system has the disadvantage that there is a tendency for a queue to build up at each cashier station.
Another known system involves providing specially designed carts each carrying a portable data terminal. Each data terminal has RF capability for communicating with a remote data processing unit, and has an integrated laser scanner which allows a customer to scan items as they are removed from supermarket shelves prior to placing the items in the cart. In this way, a running total of the cost of the selected items is maintained, and customers can proceed to a cashier station when they have finished shopping merely to pay for their goods. This system has the disadvantage of having to provide a data terminal for each cart. Also, again this system requires that customers pay for their goods at a cashier station.